French Australians (), some of whom refer to themselves as Huguenots, are Australian citizens or residents of French ancestry, or French-born people who reside in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. According to the 2021 Census, there were 148,922 people of French descent in Australia and 36,028 French-born people residing in the country. The largest French Australian community is in the state of

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Demography

Australian Census 2011 demographic map - Inner Sydney by POA - BCP field 1090 French Total Responses

According to the 2006 Australian census, 98,332 Australians (or 0.47% of the population) claim French ancestry, either alone or with another ancestry. Of these, 19,186 were born in France and 12,735 of them had since acquired Australian citizenship. 8,281 (or 43%) of the residents born in France had arrived in Australia in 1979 or earlier.

History

Bruni d'Entrecasteaux Antoine Raymond Joseph de Bruni, chevalier d'Entrecasteaux (; 8 November 1737 – 21 July 1793) was a French Navy officer, explorer and colonial administrator who served as the Governor of Isle de France (Mauritius), governor of Isle de Fran ...

, Jean-Michel Huon de Kermadec, Lapérouse, Louis Antoine de Bougainville,

Jules Dumont d'Urville Jules Sébastien César Dumont d'Urville (; 23 May 1790 – 8 May 1842) was a French List of explorers, explorer and French Navy, naval officer who explored the south and western Pacific, Australia, New Zealand and Antarctica. As a botanist an ...

, Nicolas Baudin, François Péron and Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne were some of the early European explorers to reach the continent. Francis Barrallier explored the Blue Mountains. Many Australians with French ancestry are descended from

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

refugees. Some of the earliest Huguenots to arrive in Australia held prominent positions in English society, notably Jane Franklin and Charles La Trobe. Others who came later were from poorer Huguenot families. They migrated to Australia from England in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries to escape the poverty in the East End of London, notably in the Huguenot enclaves of

Spitalfields Spitalfields () is an area in London, England and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in East London and situated in the East End of London, East End. Spitalfields is formed around Commercial Street, London, Commercial Stre ...

and

Bethnal Green Bethnal Green is an area in London, England, and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in east London and part of the East End of London, East End. The area emerged from the small settlement which developed around the common la ...

. Their impoverishment had been brought about by the effect of the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...

, which caused the collapse of the Huguenot-dominated silk-weaving industry. A number of French orders of priests, nuns and brothers have contributed to the Catholic Church in Australia. They included the teaching orders of the De La Salle Brothers,

Marist Brothers The Marist Brothers of the Schools, commonly known as simply the Marist Brothers, is an international community of Catholic Church, Catholic religious institute of Religious brother, brothers. In 1817, Marcellin Champagnat, a Marist priest from Fr ...

and Marist Sisters. The prominent school St Joseph's College, Hunters Hill was founded by the French Marist Brother Emilian Pontet in 1881. The Marist Fathers staffed parishes and conducted missionary activities in the South Pacific. The Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, based in

Kensington, New South Wales Kensington is a suburb in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), eastern suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is located four kilometres south-east of the Sydney central business district, in the Local government in Australia, local governm ...

, ran missions in remote Australia and New Guinea. French architectural influence is still visible in

Hunters Hill Hunters Hill is a suburb of Northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Hunters Hill is located north-west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government in Australia, local ...

, not only in church buildings but also but in private houses built by the unusually large number of French settlers in the suburb. The largest post-war increase in French migration to Australia came during the 1960s and 1970s; unlike many other European countries, France did not establish a migration scheme in the immediate post-war period due to chronic underemployment, despite Australia seeing the French as some of the most desirable immigrants to obtain during that era. Since that time, there has only been a small flow of French immigrants to Australia. Many people in the French-Australian community now originate from French overseas territories, especially

New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...

Culture

Today, the Brisbane French Festival, held over the

Bastille Day Bastille Day is the common name given in English-speaking countries to the national day of France, which is celebrated on 14 July each year. It is referred to, both legally and commonly, as () in French, though ''la fête nationale'' is also u ...

weekend, is Australia's biggest French festival. Participants include both French-born Australians and Australians of more distant French ancestry. Alliance Française has an active presence in most Australian cities, teaching the French language, holding cultural events such as Beaujolais Nouveau festivals and sponsoring the nation's annual French film festival. SBS has also done much to increase the popularity of French cinema and culture with Australian audiences, though Hollywood still predominates with mainstream audiences. Some Australians of French

descent have completely assimilated into the country's predominantly Anglo-Saxon culture but most still quietly but tenaciously hold on to as many aspects as they can of their French heritage and identify themselves very much as Huguenots, even hundreds of years after being exiled. The Huguenot Society of Australia does much to encourage Australian Huguenots to embrace their cultural heritage and provides genealogical research services. French cuisine has influenced the nation with French-inspired cafes, restaurants and boulangeries to be found in most major cities. French immigrant chefs, particularly those who appear on television, have done much to promote French cooking and food philosophy, including a growing understanding of the concept of

terroir (; ; from ''terre'', ) is a French language, French term used to describe the environmental factors that affect a crop's phenotype, including unique environment contexts, farming practices and a crop's specific growth habitat. Collectively, th ...

. The French Benevolent Society has an active presence in the nation, providing a support network for elderly and incapacitated French Australians. Most of the French-born people in Australia are Roman Catholics and the Reformed Church of France (Église Réformée de France) is yet to establish a presence in the country, despite the vibrant group of Australians of Huguenot descent. However, Taizé-style services are becoming increasingly popular with both Roman Catholics and Protestants from a variety of denominations. Taizé provides one of the key grassroots ecumenical movements in the nation.

Education

French international schools in Australia include: * Lycée Condorcet (Sydney) * Telopea Park School (Canberra) * Auburn High School (Melbourne) * Tingalpa State School/École publique de Tingalpa (Brisbane) * École maternelle franco-australienne Red Hill (Canberra) * Section Française de Caulfield Junior College/École française de Melbourne (Melbourne)

References

External links

French Embassy

France in Australia

French Benevolent Society

Huguenot Society of Australia

Alliance Française (Brisbane Branch)

French Schools in Australia

French Australia Chamber of Commerce and Industry

French Association of the North Shore (Sydney)

Eglise Réformée de France

France in Tasmania

Napoleon Bonaparte: Notable Australian Connections

French culture in Australia
* (French in Sydney) {{French diaspora European diaspora in Australia